Rank based on name prestige Forum

[artichoke]

My list would be:

Harvard
Yale
Columbia
Stanford
Cornell
Georgetown
Berkeley

In that order.

Mind if I ask where you're from?

Found Berkeley's inclusion interesting, lol

Michigan. However, my list may be a bit skewed by this whole applying to law school thing. I can't confirm that this list would have been the same in my UG years.

[Blindmelon]

Depends 100% on where you live. If you live in the NE, Berkeley has a ridic reputation, NYU not so much. Seems different based on what you guys say. So.... this threat will likely not end well.

[DeweyWins]

Someone actually needs to get a non-lawstudent/lawyer to write a list down one of these days. My mind is too polluted by the application process and a year of law school to make any kind of meaningful ranking. I'm pretty sure I didn't know UofC, UVA and Duke were top schools though. I knew NYU is good, but that's mostly because I'm a NYC-ophile.

[artichoke]

Depends 100% on where you live. If you live in the NE, Berkeley has a ridic reputation, NYU not so much. Seems different based on what you guys say. So.... this threat will likely not end well.

In the NE? Did you mean NW?

[James Bond]

Depends 100% on where you live. If you live in the NE, Berkeley has a ridic reputation, NYU not so much. Seems different based on what you guys say. So.... this threat will likely not end well.

Are you trying to argue that in the NE Berkeley has a better rep than NYU? Really?

[Curry]

Vandy's reputation is negligible...

[rayiner]

Although in the northeast and the mid-atlantic, everyone is well aware of its awesomeness. that should count for something.

I think Columbia's prestige is too regional for my list. Same thing with Penn and Berkeley. People on the west coast think that Berkeley is like Harvard, but that reputation doesn't carry. Meanwhile, everyone thinks Georgetown is a top law school, regardless of where you are in the country.

Fair enough. I had no idea Columbia's prestige wasn't nation-wide. Weird because I knew Penn wasn't and I'm from PA.

I grew up in the DC area and among my circle Penn was a lot more well known than Columbia. Donald Trump went to Penn...

[lolol10]

1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. Stanford
5. Columbia
6. Georgetown

7. Notre Dame
8. Cooley

[Blindmelon]

Depends 100% on where you live. If you live in the NE, Berkeley has a ridic reputation, NYU not so much. Seems different based on what you guys say. So.... this threat will likely not end well.

Are you trying to argue that in the NE Berkeley has a better rep than NYU? Really?

Yea. Berkeley has this weird mythical rep. in New England.

[MysticalWheel]

EDIT: Princeton Law School would be third. Just tell some idiot you go to Princeton Law School and I guarantee they Ooh and Aah.

Probably same for Brown, lol.

MW

Brown and Dartmouth don't carry prestige

They're both Ivy, so that grants prestige right there, even if they are at the bottom.

MW

[Blindmelon]

Depends 100% on where you live. If you live in the NE, Berkeley has a ridic reputation, NYU not so much. Seems different based on what you guys say. So.... this threat will likely not end well.

Are you trying to argue that in the NE Berkeley has a better rep than NYU? Really?

Yea. Berkeley has this weird mythical rep. in New England.

Btw, this just shows it all depends on the circle you run in, etc. So this is pretty silly. Outside of HYS, Columbia, "prestige" of school is totally relative.

[MysticalWheel]

Someone actually needs to get a non-lawstudent/lawyer to write a list down one of these days. My mind is too polluted by the application process and a year of law school to make any kind of meaningful ranking. I'm pretty sure I didn't know UofC, UVA and Duke were top schools though. I knew NYU is good, but that's mostly because I'm a NYC-ophile.

I'm in the same boat- that's why I wanted to see what everyone else is thinking and see if we can't get a general consensus. So far, Harvard is the obvious #1, but for some reason, there's a voice in my head saying that Stanford edges out Yale for #2.

Oh, and whoever said Columbia's prestige is regional, I do not think that is true. Just going off general perception, it is widely known and respected. In retrospect, I'd probably change my original rank to Columbia and then NYU.

MW

[czelede]

I'm from the midwest, so that may have to do with the non UVa prestige. I'd say I assessed lay prestige mostly from talking to non law school friends during the application process about which schools I was applying to. With UVa I got a lot of "Why in the world would you apply there if you did well on the LSAT?"

I feel like a lot of people associate prestige with smart people they know that go there. So I have a few friends that know NYU has a great law school because they have a "super smart cousin" or etc that went there. My family friends think UPenn is a great school overall because one of the super smart kids I grew up with went to Penn Med (although to be fair, Penn Med is like Harvard Law). And I'd say a lot of other people are influenced by the undergraduate reputation of schools and who went there after high school/college and the like - if your valedictorian ended up at UChicago, you would probably assume it was a good school.

Before TLS came along, I thought Columbia Law << NYU Law, though I knew they were both good schools either way (and that Columbia >>>>>>> NYU for undergrad). As to the regional power of Columbia's prestige, I'd say that it carries very little prestige in the midwest on average. If my theory of prestige being associated with smart attendees, though, this probably explains Columbia's lack of national reach because their graduate schools are festering with average graduates from my huge public state school that want to be in NYC.

[arism87]

EDIT: Princeton Law School would be third. Just tell some idiot you go to Princeton Law School and I guarantee they Ooh and Aah.

Probably same for Brown, lol.

MW

Brown and Dartmouth don't carry prestige

They're both Ivy, so that grants prestige right there, even if they are at the bottom.

MW

That's assuming people are aware they are ivies.

[arism87]

Someone actually needs to get a non-lawstudent/lawyer to write a list down one of these days. My mind is too polluted by the application process and a year of law school to make any kind of meaningful ranking. I'm pretty sure I didn't know UofC, UVA and Duke were top schools though. I knew NYU is good, but that's mostly because I'm a NYC-ophile.

Good ideas. I just polled 4 non-law friends (all from VA FWIW).. clearly I am bored.

On ALL lists (and in this order):
1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. Stanford

Also making appearances:
Georgetown
Duke
Penn
Brown
Chicago
UCLA (?)

[showNprove]

Harvard and Georgetown have the most lay prestige, followed by Yale and Stanford. After that, rank the private schools by how famous their sports programs are (Duke, Notre Dame, etc.).

[im_blue]

Based on the Gallup poll, the top 10 law schools for lay prestige are:

Harvard
Stanford
Yale
Berkeley
Notre Dame
Michigan
Duke
UCLA
Texas
Ohio State

http://www.gallup.com/poll/9109/harvard ... ublic.aspx

[MrKappus]

For lay prestige, my guess would be:
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Columbia
Georgetown
Duke
Mich/UVA/Berkeley (note: if called "Boalt Hall" it drops below Chicago)
Cornell/Penn
NYU
Northwestern
Chicago

[D-ROCCA]

Based on the Gallup poll, the top 10 law schools for lay prestige are:

Harvard
Stanford
Yale
Berkeley
Notre Dame
Michigan
Duke
UCLA
Texas
Ohio State

http://www.gallup.com/poll/9109/harvard ... ublic.aspx

UMich, Notre Dame, and Duke have huge alumni bases and/or strong sports program allegiance that give them a boost. Not sure about UCLA and Texas, and fuck Ohio State.

Since there has been a multitude of meaningless speculation, I'll take a stab.

Harvard
Yale
Stanford
Duke
Georgetown
Columbia
Michigan
Penn
Cal

[James Bond]

Based on the Gallup poll, the top 10 law schools for lay prestige are:

Harvard
Stanford
Yale
Berkeley
Notre Dame
Michigan
Duke
UCLA
Texas
Ohio State

http://www.gallup.com/poll/9109/harvard ... ublic.aspx

Lol @ "Ohio State"

[irishman86]

Based on the Gallup poll, the top 10 law schools for lay prestige are:

Harvard
Stanford
Yale
Berkeley
Notre Dame
Michigan
Duke
UCLA
Texas
Ohio State

http://www.gallup.com/poll/9109/harvard ... ublic.aspx

Lol @ "Ohio State"

Good? football team.

Outside of the top Ivies like HYP and of course Stanford, I think people know schools because of their sports teams.

[chaosnoodlesoup]

I'll chip in based on questioning peers, family and neighbors.

1. Harvard
2. Georgetown [not sure why this is the case].
3. Stanford
4. Yale
5. Washington University [survey taken in St. Louis].
6. Notre Dame
7. Chicago
8. Random Schools [NYU, Columbia, Texas, Michigan, Berkeley, UCLA, etc.]
9. St. Louis University [If you're a lawyer or politician in St. Louis, there's a good chance you went to SLU].

It seems that most people I asked would have put Georgetown first if they hadn't known that Obama went to Harvard. Many told me point blank that they know Harvard is a good school because pundit commentary on affirmative action and its use to screw white folks out of attending the best law schools, i.e., Obama got into the best law school because he's black.



I can't wait to leave St. Louis.

[tomtom23]

From a Chicago (city, not school) guy:

Harvard
Northwestern
Yale
Illinois
Notre Dame
Stanford
Georgetown
Chicago
Loyola-Chicago
DePaul
IIT
Michigan
Wisconsin
Northern Illinois

IMHO, the problem with Chicago is no lay person hangs out there and so they don't know anything about it. The immediate (very immediate) neighborhood is decent, the outer ring is full of radical psychos (Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers, etc), and beyond that it's not what we call "desirable" for miles. It's a shame because Chicago has so many dominant programs (business, med, law, etc).

I think they were hoping the Olympics in Chicago would gentrify the area. Unfortunately that didn't work out.

[omninode]

I'm from Michigan. This is what I remember from before I started caring about law schools:

1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Georgetown
4. Michigan
5. Notre Dame
6. Various T3s/T4s that most practicing lawyers and judges here actually went to (Wayne, Cooley, etc.)


Please don't crucify me for leaving Chicago, Columbia, etc. off my list. They simply have no presence in semi-rural Michigan.

[vegenator]

I'm from Minnesota and I always get asked if I'm applying to the U. of Minnesota and William Mitchell because those are the top 2 in the Twin Cities and most local attorneys went there. Otherwise, I'd say that people around here are impressed by the Ivies, Cali schools (we all dream of warm weather ) and schools with good sports teams.

Perhaps something like this?
Harvard
Yale
Stanford
(Princeton)
Georgetown
Columbia
Duke
Berkeley
Notre Dame
UCLA
Cornell
Northwestern
Like others have said, U Chicago, UVA, NYU, & UPenn (= Penn State) don't carry much weight...